2nd Annual Northwest Arkansas Veterans Appreciation Event

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ROGERS (KFSM) -- The Northwest Arkansas Veterans Coalition put on a Veterans Appreciation event on Saturday (Aug. 20) to honor those who are currently serving or have served in the military and their families.

Veteran support organizations set up booths with information to pass out to show what they have to offer.

Bob Baldwin served in the Air Force in the Vietnam War and says celebrations like this mean a lot to him.

"When I came home in the early seventies there weren't a lot of appreciation to Veterans at that point," Baldwin said. "So it`s nice to be able to come out and enjoy the fellowship of other people who have experienced the same thing that I have."

Baldwin says now there's always a lot of appreciation for veterans and it makes him feel good.

"I think it means an awful lot for our young people today to understand that freedom has a price and that price is provided from our veterans," Baldwin said.

National Guard Veteran, Clifford Weatherbee has served for 10 years and said his experience coming back from war was much different. He said people were happy and wanted to shake his hand.

"I remember when we flew in from Iraq our plane...we had a couple of fire trucks wash the ceremonial dust off of our plane," Weatherbee said.

Lonnie Young served in the Marine Corp, also in the Vietnam war and said it's good to see Veterans come to these events, but also civilians. He said the information and resources at today's celebration were also very important.

"Being able to talk and get some of the information about where they can go to get help or where they can go to find a job", Young said.

A car show also took place at the event to raise money for the coalition. The money raised is used for events and to help veterans in need on a more regular basis.